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Wheatmark Author Betty Jo Tucker Offers Advice to Writers

October 27, 2009 by Lori Sellstrom, Account Manager Author and movie critic Betty Jo Tucker has met more film stars than most people have even heard of. Yet when it came time for her to publish two of her most recent manuscripts, she chose Wheatmark over a traditional publisher.

“At my age, you just can’t wait around for the traditional publishing schedule,” said Tucker, a retired college dean. “I wanted to find a way to get my books out quickly so that the movies I was writing about would still be fresh in peoples’ minds. I started to look into how to do this faster and that’s when I found your wonderful company. You were able to put both of my books on the fast track, and yet gave me such a nice product.”

Tucker has published two books with Wheatmark: Confessions of a Movie Addict and Susan Sarandon: A True Maverick. In both cases, a traditional publisher initially requested that she write the books. However, this same publisher could not deliver the fast turn-around time Betty Jo wanted.

“Traditional publishing just takes too long,” Betty Jo said. “If I were younger, I may have decided to go that route. But at my age, I just feel as though I don’t have the time.”

Tucker’s first book with Wheatmark, Confessions of a Movie Addict, was actually her second published work. Her first book, It Had To Be Us, was the inaugural offering from a new traditional publisher who became interested in her book after reading portions of it on a website that featured novellas and short stories. It Had To Be Us is a romantic memoir written by Tucker and her husband Larry (using the pseudonyms of Harry and Elizabeth Lawrence), telling the story from both their viewpoints about their marriage of twenty-six years, their divorce, and the reignited spark of romance that caused them to remarry after twenty years of separation.

“The publisher liked the book so well they asked us to write another one,” Tucker explained. “Well, needless to say, Larry declined. So I decided to write about my experiences with movies and about the many movie actors and directors I’ve met.”

The result was Confessions of a Movie Addict, what Tucker describes as, “pure fun to write from cover to cover.”

“It just flowed and pretty much wrote itself,” she said. “People have told me that they have laughed out loud while reading the book.”

In Confessions, Tucker starts with her first movie experience and takes her readers through her after-retirement career working as a movie critic for several newspapers and for two reputable online sites: ReelTalkReviews.com and News First Online. Being a bona fide film critic, she tells her readers about her experiences at free screenings and about her many interviews with movie stars, directors, and screenwriters. Her book includes some of her encounters with famous people such as Angelina Jolie, Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, film director M. Night Shyamalan, Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, Emilio Estevez, and Matthew Broderick.

Tucker has received great acclaim for Confessions, including a quote from James Colt Harrison, editor of National PreVue Film Magazine, that is often used to promote her book: “If Oscars were given for the funniest book of the year, Confessions of a Movie Addict would win hands down.”

Although Tucker elected to publish with Wheatmark instead of the traditional publisher who originally asked her to write the book, she was again asked by this same publisher to write another book—this time about a famous movie star. Tucker said she chose to write about Susan Sarandon due to Sarandon’s long, successful career, her dedication in promoting certain causes, and the fact that she had interviewed Sarandon in the past and had already written a few articles about her.

“Writing Susan Sarandon: A True Maverick was a lot of hard work,” Tucker admitted. “I think I lived in cyberspace and on the phone for about nine months, making sure that I read everything I possibly could about her. It was much harder than the other two books I wrote.”

Although Maverick started at the request of a traditional publisher, Tucker again chose instead to publish with Wheatmark, citing the wonderful experience she had with Confessions of a Movie Addict. According to Tucker, Wheatmark not only gave her an exceptional product in a timely manner, but also provided her with marketing tools that helped her to successfully promote both of her books.

“Promoting your book is definitely the hardest part of the publishing process,” Tucker said. “Although I don’t like to promote my own work, I realize that I have to if I want to sell books. I can’t thank Wheatmark enough for nominating my book for the Colorado Book Awards. Even if I don’t win, just being nominated has helped to promote my book.

“Wheatmark helped me to develop a marking plan, which was very helpful and is something I really appreciate,” Tucker continued. “I also loved the postcards that you developed for me. I sent them to everyone I knew and to everyone I mentioned in the book. I really appreciated the way your company helped me with my press releases and the information you gave me for radio interviews. You even made it easy to order books for book signings.”

Through her book promotion experience, Tucker has successfully branched into more focused marketing techniques. For example, instead of limiting her book signings to bookstores, she has taken her book straight to her audience—moviegoers—by having book signings at the Cinemark Tinseltown movie complex near her home in Pueblo, Colorado. Because of her reputation as a published movie critic, she continues to be a guest on several radio programs, and is also promoting her books on several movie related websites, including the unofficial Susan Sarandon site. Perhaps one of her most important and heartfelt marketing strategies was to donate her author’s royalties for Maverick to The Myelin Project, one of Sarandon’s favorite causes.

Tucker’s advice to aspiring writers?

“Don’t give up. If you’ve written a book, don’t give up if your book gets turned down by a traditional publisher. Don’t be afraid to publish it with a publisher like Wheatmark so that you can get your writing out there for others to read. With Internet access and print on demand publishing, there is no reason why authors can’t see their books published.

“I certainly have loved working with you people at Wheatmark,” she added. “You are all so courteous, friendly, and very professional.”

Photo courtesy of The Pueblo Chieftain

Blogging As You Write…

October 21, 2009 by Lori Sellstrom, Account Manager Recently I began an experiment to help in my writing endeavors. I've been writing a book about my quirky experiences working as a small town newspaper reporter, which I did for 10 years before moving to Tucson. I decided it might benefit me to see what others think about the project. So I started a blog. The idea was a little intimidating at first. I mean, did I really want the whole world reading my writing before it was edited, much less published?

But then it dawned on me. That's the best time to have them read it! When they comment on the different stories I've posted, it not only gives me a feel for what people may be interested in, but it also gives me some feedback on what needs to be fixed, changed, deleated, etc. If they like it, they may become hooked and want to read the entire book once it's published. Who knows? It may be generating a potential market for my book before the book is even completed.

Best of all, it's motivating me to stay on task and to be more dilligent in completing the project.

So far I've just been announcing the blog posts on my Facebook profile; I still need to gain followers and start linking to other blogs.

Am I afraid of losing my content to someone else who may try to steal it and publish it under their own name? Nah! Being an author is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes money, time, and effort to become published and successful--even when you're great. Who would want that headache?

I'll keep you posted on my progress as it unfolds.Here's my blog if you would like to read it and make comments.

Learning the Lingo: A Quick Vocabulary Lesson for the New Author

October 15, 2009 by Kat Gautreaux, Account Manager

Like most niches of the creative world, there is a learning curve to joining that community. The language book people speak is often one that can befuddle the new author. Here is a quick rundown of some important terms publishing professionals may say, ask your opinion about, or need you to understand. 
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Manuscript - The manuscript is the document that is your writing. It can be printed on paper, sketched on a napkin, or better yet, typed up in a Word document. When book people talk about a manuscript, they mean the work that will be transformed into a book.

Paginated interior - After your final manuscript is accepted, the next step in the publishing process is layout. The paginated interior is the end product of layout. All of the formatting choices the designer makes to mold your manuscript into a book is part of this. What the author receives to review after the layout process is the paginated interior. At this time, there shouldn’t be any major changes, just minor tweaks to make sentences correct.

Trim size - The trim size of a book is the physical footprint of the book when you look at it straight on. For example, some books are 5 inches wide and 8 inches tall, giving them a trim size of 5x8.

Chicago Manual of Style - The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) is the industry standard for guidelines on how to present text within books. From formatting footnotes to how to write the name of a film to using commas, the CMS is the book industry’s rule book.

DPI - The dpi of a digital image has to do with the quality of the image. DPI stands for dots per inch and corresponds with how much ink a printer releases. The higher the dpi (that is, the more dots), the better the quality of the printed image, and the better your book will look. When images are going to be used on the cover or interior of a book, the standard dpi required is 300.

Verso and recto - When you open a book, the page on the left is the verso and the page on the right is the recto. This helps book designers determine placement.

Front matter - The front matter of a book consists of the parts, designated by CMS, that go at the beginning. The options are, in order, half-title page, verso of half-title page (blank), title page, copyright page, dedication, epigraph (the little poem or quote at the beginning of some books), table of contents, foreword, preface, acknowledgments, and sometimes the introduction.

Back matter - The back matter of a book is additional content beyond the chaptered sections that add to the reader’s understanding of the material. These sections can include the appendix, notes, glossary, bibliography, and index.

These are just a few terms the beginning author should learn in order to communicate with editors, designers, and other book people!

Kindle Popularity on the Rise

October 15, 2009 by Kat Gautreaux, Account Manager

One of the services that Wheatmark offers is Kindle formatting for our titles.

For those not familiar with Kindle, it is an electronic reading device sold by Amazon that wirelessly transfers content for books, newspapers, and other reading materials to itself.

I often hear grumblings about the Kindle by paper enthusiasts: they don’t want to read on a screen, “youth” today are ruining things, and technology is going way too far.

I, too, wasn’t completely sold on electronic readers until I recently went on a long trip.

On airplanes, I read what I call “junk food” books. Generally paperbacks with detectives, serial killers, and maybe a good love scene-they are a fast read and I can get through two of them in just one flight across the country. That’s two 400-page books I have in my carry-on.

If I’d had a Kindle, I could have loaded the books on the device before I left from the airport or even from the cruise ship I was on. A typical John Sanford “Prey” series novel is about 10.4 oz. The Kindle is 10.2 oz. The Kindle is a great way to pack light.

In fact, on the cruise ship I saw Kindles everywhere! I witnessed passengers demonstrating them excitedly to other passengers in the elevators, and one gentleman surreptitiously reading his under the table at dinner. On a lazy day at sea while reading on the sundeck I counted 20 Kindles in use.

I was surprised. Most of the passengers on the ship were retirees (or older) who were spending their free time traveling. This was a demographic that, in my experience, doesn’t always warm to technology.

I asked one lady how she liked her Kindle and she couldn’t stop raving about how easy it was to have all her books on it and how it was such a pleasure to use.

There is a market out there for Kindle-formatted books and it will continue to be a factor in book sales. Yes, there are other electronic reading devices out there, and some of them, like the Sony, come in tempting colors, but the Kindle is setting the standard with more than 350,000 titles available for it.

Many Wheatmark authors have elected to have their books formatted for Kindle and they are seeing the results in their books sales.

If you are interested in having your book formatted for the Kindle, ask your account manager about it!

Building an Author Platform: Video Presentation

October 06, 2009 by Atilla Vekony, Publishing Information Manager A strong author platform is a key part of every successful book marketing campaign. Want to sell lots of books? Building your author platform is where you start! View this brand new presentation by Grael Norton, publishing consultant at Wheatmark, on How to Build Your Platform on the Web.